Fig. 3: Chemogenetic activation of VTADA neurons in DAT-Cre mice directly triggers anxiety-like behavior. | Nature Communications

Fig. 3: Chemogenetic activation of VTADA neurons in DAT-Cre mice directly triggers anxiety-like behavior.

From: NAc-VTA circuit underlies emotional stress-induced anxiety-like behavior in the three-chamber vicarious social defeat stress mouse model

Fig. 3

a Schematic of bilateral virus infection in DAT-Cre mice. b Experimental scheme of chemogenetic activation of VTADA neurons and behavioral tests. c Representative image of VTA-injection sites. Scale bar, 100 μm. d The quantitative analysis of Venn diagram shows the co-expression level of mCherry with TH in VTA (3 sections per mouse from 3 mice). e–h Results of OFT. e Representative exploration traces of OFT. f Percentage of time spent in the central area of OFT (two-way ANOVA, group: P = 0.0100, treatment: P = 0.0125, interaction: P = 0.0019; post hoc Tukey’s test, hM3Dq(NS vs. CNO): P = 0.0010, CNO(mCherry vs. hM3Dq): P = 0.0008). g Percentage of distance traveled in the central area of OFT (two-way ANOVA, group: P = 0.0038, treatment: P = 0.0068, interaction: P = 0.0303; post hoc Tukey’s test, hM3Dq(NS vs. CNO): P = 0.0052, CNO(mCherry vs. hM3Dq): P = 0.0034). h Total distance traveled in the OFT (two-way ANOVA, group: P = 4.97 × 10−5, treatment: P = 9.13 × 10−6, interaction: P = 5.60 × 10−5; post hoc Tukey’s test, hM3Dq(NS vs. CNO): P = 4.78 × 10−7, CNO(mCherry vs. hM3Dq): P = 1.49 × 10−6). i–k Results of EPM. i Representative exploration traces in EPM. j Percentage of time spent in the open arms of EPM (two-way ANOVA, group: P = 0.0014, treatment: P = 0.0009, interaction: P = 0.0032; post hoc Tukey’s test, hM3Dq(NS vs. CNO): P = 0.0002, CNO(mCherry vs. hM3Dq): P = 0.0003). k Number of open-arm entries in the EPM (two-way ANOVA, group: P = 0.0561, treatment: P = 0.5119, interaction: P = 0.1947; post hoc Tukey’s test, hM3Dq(NS vs. CNO): P = 0.5042, CNO(mCherry vs. hM3Dq): P = 0.1111). l, m Results of SIT. l Representative traces in SIT. m Statistics of time spent in the social interaction zone of SIT (two-way ANOVA, group: P = 0.8647, treatment: P = 0.6315, interaction: P = 0.7857; post hoc Tukey’s test, hM3Dq(NS vs. CNO): P = 0.9988, CNO(mCherry vs. hM3Dq): P = 0.9999). The red and blue dots in the OFT, EPM, and SIT locomotion traces reflect the start and end points of the mouse, respectively. n = 8 mice for each group. All data are shown as mean ± SEM. ns not significant, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001.

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